Infinity I-China, the largest China-Israel fund and the second China-Israel fund of the Infinity Group, established by Clal Industries and Investments from the IDB Group, exercised a partial exit from its Digital China investment for HK$85.1 million or more than US$11 million.

Infinity sold a block of shares it purchased at HK$2.43/share in September 2008 for $HK 6.8/share for more than a 2.5x return for its investors in just under a year. Infinity still holds US$14 million worth of shares, demonstrating appreciation of the investment to US$25 million, and a total profit (realized and unrealized) on the investment of US$16 million.

"We invested in Digital China and its private Chinese spin off, ITS, at the beginning of the crisis. Infinity brought advanced Israeli technology to DC and its distributional channels. We did so because we knew that DC is an industry leader with a strong market presence and, all things considered, the time was excellent to exercise our ability to add value and invest," said Amir Gal-Or, Infinity I-China's Hong Kong based managing partner. "Our partial exit today demonstrates Infinity's ability to make the right investment decisions, also during a crisis, and then generate outstanding returns for our investors. Infinity still has a substantial amount invested in Digital China, understanding that the company remains one to be watched."

"During the crisis period we thought out of the box; that's also why we invested in a public company," said Avi Fischer, co-chairman of the fund and deputy chairman of IDB Group. "The result is to realize a successful partial exit and a profit for investors within a short period of time."

Headquartered in Beijing, Digital China (DC) is the leading domestic IT company in China with more than HK$5B in revenues and regional centers in 19 major cities in China. DC focuses on three major business segments: systems integration, IT services and distribution of IT products. DC distributes a vast range of IT products through a network of more than 9,000 resellers and agents across the country. DC was spun off from the Legend Group (together with Lenovo) and has been independently listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange since 2001. DCITS, a leading provider of Information Technology (IT) services in China, is a spin-off of Digital China.

"For the past decade, Infinity and the IDB Group have built hubs of business throughout China. They have done so by fostering relationships with the leadership of both the Chinese business community and the government as well as through the creation of opportunities at high level forums such as the recent World Economic Forum in Dalian," said Avishai Silvershatz, Infinity I-China's Tel Aviv based managing partner. "Infinity has been in China long enough to be considered a 'local' rather than a 'foreigner'. This unique status enables us an edge when it comes to doing business in China and generating profitable returns. The investment in Digital China, a company which last month was ranked one of Asia's 50 best largest companies by Forbes Asia, is a an example of an investment made possible by Infinity's special status. We have ambitious plans for the next twelve months including activities in some of China's largest and most promising sectors."


Infinity I-China, the leading fund of Infinity Group, was founded by Clal Industries and Investments Ltd. from IDB, China Development Bank and CSVC. Infinity Group is currently managing more than US$600 million through three funds, two in China. It has a portfolio of 45 companies and 20 successful exits. Infinity I-China, Infinity's second fund in China, is the largest fund that focuses on Chinese-Israeli related opportunities and serves as a bridge for Chinese-Israeli business initiatives in both directions. The fund has attracted high profile investors around the world, including Clal Industries and Investments from the IDB Group (Avi Fischer, deputy chairman of the IDB Group and co-chairman of the I-China Fund) in Israel and the China Development Bank in China. Infinity I-China has a highly experienced international team at offices in Tel-Aviv, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Suzhou (near Shanghai) and New York. Fifteen of the fund's professionals are based in China.